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ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

LIMITING PACKAGING AND WASTE

Most of the waste resulting from Rexel s operations consists of wood, paper and cardboard. The Group is committed to limiting its consumption

of packaging materials, reducing the quantities of waste generated by its activities and increasing its waste recycling and recovery rates.

LIMITING THE CONSUMPTION OF PACKAGING MATERIALS Even though the use of packaging is indispensable for its activity as a distributor, Rexel strives to limit its consumption by optimizing its con- tainer sizes and promoting reuse. In the warehouses, for example, the prepacking systems automat- ically select the optimal container for the content of each order. This type of system has been installed at Rexel logistics platforms in many countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal. Rexel is also working on designing innova- tive recyclable packaging such as the Roll n Box, a cardboard cable packaging system developed by Conectis, a Rexel subsidiary, that offers the advantage of weighing less than a wooden drum and is more convenient for handling, pal- letizing and unreeling. Reusable packaging solutions are also becoming increasingly

widespread. One example is the plastic boxes that are used in ro- tation for the branches deliveries. Other initiatives, like using shred- ded used cardboard boxes as a packing filler and protective ma- terial, have significantly reduced purchases of other consumables. However, despite these efforts, the consumption of packaging ma- terials increased by 19% in 2014. This increase is primarily due to the opening of new logistics cen- ters as well as the growth of cer- tain aspects of the Group s offer- ing, such as water heaters. These figures must nevertheless be qualified by the fact that packag- ing consumption monitoring also improved, most notably by estab- lishing separate accounts of other consumables.

REDUCING PAPER CONSUMPTION Rexel is also taking action to re- duce its paper consumption by ex- panding the use of digital media >>

25,529 -15%

VS. 2013

WASTE GENERATED

IN 2014 (in tons,

on a like-for-like basis)

63.3% OF WHICH

IS RECOVERED